Related papers: Gamma-Ray Bursts and Afterglow Polarisation
Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are most intense transient gamma-ray events in the sky when they are on together with the strong evidences (i.e. the isotropic and inhomogeneous distribution of GRBs detected by BASTE) that they are located at…
As the most energetic explosion in the universe, gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are usually believed to be generated by relativistic jets. Some mechanisms (e.g. internal non-uniform magnetic dissipation processes or the precession of the central…
We report the optical polarization of a gamma ray burst (GRB) afterglow, obtained 203 seconds after the initial burst of gamma rays from GRB 060418, using a ring polarimeter on the robotic Liverpool Telescope. Our robust (2-sigma) upper…
According to the fireball model gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglows are the result of a shock pushed into the surrounding medium by an extremely relativistic outflow from the GRB. By modeling the broadband spectrum, ranging from X-ray to radio…
Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are the most brilliant objects in the Universe but efforts to estimate the total energy released in the explosion -- a crucial physical quantity -- have been stymied by their unknown geometry: spheres or cones. We…
The properties of the ambient medium in which GRBs go off are an important piece of the puzzle, not only as an issue in itself, but because of their link with the nature of the progenitor. In this review, I describe and critically comment…
Several interesting correlations among Gamma Ray Bursts (GRB) prompt and afterglow properties have been found in the recent years. Some of these correlations have been proposed also to standardize GRB energetics to use them as standard…
It is by now fairly well established that gamma-ray burst afterglows result from initially relativistic outflows interacting with the medium surrounding the burster and emitting non-thermal radiation ranging from radio to X-rays. However,…
We present a set of seventeen Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) with known redshifts and X-ray afterglow emission. We apply cosmological corrections in order to compare their fluxes normalized at a redshift of 1. Two classes of GRB can be defined…
I discuss what we have learned about Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) by studying their `afterglows', and how these are interpreted in the generally-accepted `fireball' model of GRBs, as well as in the generally-unaccepted `cannonball' model of the…
The mechanism responsible for the afterglow emission of Gamma Ray Bursts (GRBs) and its connection to the prompt $\gamma$-ray emission is still a debated issue. Relations between intrinsic properties of the prompt or afterglow emission can…
In a recent paper, Rol and colleagues present evidence for a variable polarization in the optical afterglow following the gamma-ray burst GRB 990712. The variation is highly significant, but the position angle appears time independent.…
Polarization behaviors of optical afterglows from two-component gamma-ray burst jets are investigated, assuming various configurations for the two components. In most cases, the observed polarization is dominated by the inner narrow…
We report on the status of our search for X-ray afterglows of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) using the ROSAT all-sky survey data. The number of potential X-ray afterglow candidates with respect to the expected number of beamed GRBs allows to…
The afterglow of a gamma-ray burst (GRB) is commonly thought to be due to continuous deceleration of a relativistically expanding fireball in the surrounding medium. Assuming that the expansion of the fireball is adiabatic and that the…
We predict the rate at which Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB) afterglows should be detected in supernova searches as a function of limiting flux. Although GRB afterglows are rarer than supernovae, they are detectable at greater distances because of…
We report polarization measurements and photometry for the optical afterglow of the gamma-ray burst GRB 020405. We measured a highly significant 9.9% polarization (in V band) 1.3 days after the burst and argue that it is intrinsic to the…
Gamma-ray Bursts (GRBs) generate powerful relativistic jets that inject a large amount of energy into their surrounding environment, producing blast waves that accelerate particles to high energies. The GRB afterglow radiation provides a…
We present numerical simulations of Gamma-Ray Bursts arising from external shocks in the impulsive and wind models, including a weak or a strong coupling between electrons and protons plus magnetic fields, and analyze the burst features in…
For a few seconds a gamma-ray burst (GRB) becomes the brightest object in the Universe, over-shining the rest of the Universe combined! Clearly this reflects extreme conditions that are fascinating and worth exploring. The recent discovery…